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SCOUTING MARCHES ON
Terry Whitaker, the Scout executive and CEO for the Suwannee River Area Council, was introduced to Scouting while a second-grader. After college, he decided to make Scouting a career. Whitaker has secured grants in support of a partnership with Leon County Schools aimed at making Scouting more widely available.
Movement fuels passions and builds confidence by EMILEE MAE STRUSS
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single act of kindness in England has, over time, touched millions of boys and girls across the United States. In 1907, William Boyce was lost on a foggy street in London. A child came to his aid, guided him to his destination and refused Boyce’s offer of money, explaining that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout. Boyce tracked down the founder of the Boy Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, and the two men worked to bring the Boy Scouts to America, a goal they accomplished in 1910. Since then, generations of children have recited the Scout Oath, adhered to Scout Laws and acquired leadership skills. “I was introduced to the Cub Scouts in second grade,” said Terry Whitaker, the Scout executive and CEO for the Suwannee River Area Council (SRAC). “After college, I realized that I could work for the Boy Scouts.” Whitaker has been involved in what has been known since 2019 as Scouts BSA for 18 years, three of them in his current role. The SRAC covers 13 counties in South Georgia and North Florida. Whitaker’s two sons are currently
participating in Scouting, as are other council members’ children. John Wood and Tim Hunt are past presidents of the SRAC. Hunt is the immediate past scoutmaster of Troop 109, one of 54 units that make up SRAC. Three generations in the men’s families have produced 24 Eagle Scouts.
“Most of us go through the Scouting program and continue on with our lives but come back at some point to be involved whether with our own children or in the council,” Wood said. The story of Susan and Mark Baldino and their son John Howard is emblematic of the
CAMP SONOKYAHOLEE
The first summer camp in the Tallahassee area was located on Lake Bradford and was established in 1920. As the Scouting movement grew, Herman C. Fleitman, who divided his time between Leon County and New York, donated 10 acres of land on Orchard Pond, as well as $10,000 toward new buildings. A camp was at the pond, located 12 miles north of Tallahassee, from 1928–1947 until the need for even more space prompted officials to move to Wallwood Boy Scout Reservation in the Apalachicola National Forest, which encompasses over 500 acres.
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TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM
photography by THE WORKMANS